Quotes+Questions

Quotes

Next Gen
But is there more to next gen than console cycles? (Daglow) recalls that some people, when first introduced to it, didn't think Sim City (http://games.ign.com/halloffame for more info) could even be called a game -- but Maxis co-founder Jeff Braun published it to resounding success. "To see what everybody else misses, is this next gen?" Daglow wondered.

Another example of Daglow's next gen is a title like Guitar Hero that crosses age barriers and engages entire families. "Drawing a group together playing one game, is that next gen?" He asks. 

"How can retro be next gen?" Daglow posits -- and yet, he holds up Geometry Wars (http://www.bizarrecreations.com/games/geometry_wars_retro_evolved/) as an example of a way it certainly can. As for World of Warcraft : "Is providing a massive audience next gen? How will it influence what comes next?"

Daglow rolled it all up into his "Law of Next Gen," which states, "Next Gen Hardware is any platform that, upon its introduction, dramatically changes player's view of the potential for interactive entertainment.

Next Gen software is any title that, upon its introduction, dramatically changes player's view of the potential for interactive entertainment.

09.48AM PST, 08/20/07 - Rene Sickel, Leigh Alexander
http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=15175

Must-have Nintendo enters Japan’s top three

Nintendo’s stock soared yesterday to more than Y70,000 per share. Analysts at CLSA, the Asia-Pacific-focused brokerage, said recently that a realistic price target for Nintendo was Y100,000. Such a value would take Nintendo ahead of Mistubishi.
Nintendo is already worth 80 per cent more than Sony - a company that still has a far higher share of the video games market and has overall group revenues that are eight times those of Nintendo’s.
Monday’s 4.6 per cent surge in Nintendo’s share price came as investors piled cash into the growth story of the Wii, the games console released this time last year that has succeeded in expanding the games-playing population to encompass more women and more people above the age of 30.
Last week (Nintendo) unveiled the launch date and price for Wii Fit (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=3161014), a fitness game that uses a floor-based sensor device – the Wii “board”, which looks like a set of bathroom scales and detects the body movements of the person standing on it. Analysts believe that the add-on will, for at least a year, be a sell-out at stores worldwide.
Leo Lewis, Asia Business Correspondent
From The Times
October 16, 2007
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article2666157.ece

Proving Grounds: The Honeymoon is over for Wii
The interesting question for Nintendo, and one that is sure to drive a lot of comments down below, is "what's next?" ...2008 remains a huge question mark. WiiFit will make a big splash with the USA Today/Oprah crowd, but beyond that we don't really know how dedicated Nintendo will be to the self-referential "hardcore" audience. Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about it -- you're just going to have to get used to sharing your favorite company's attention with your mom. The new focus is definitely on the WiiFit/sudoku/life-training crowd…
Andrew Pfister
Reviews Editor, 1UP.com
Posted at Wed, 26 Sep 2007 14:24:17 PDT on Mr. Pfister’s blog
http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8405354&publicUserId=4549029

The Facts on You
67% of American heads of households play computer or videogames.
The average game player age is 33 years old. The average game buyer age is 38.
38% of gamers are female. 47% of all online gamers are female.
33% of American homes have a video game console.
2006 saw 7.4 billion dollars in total sales, the same as in 2004.
55% of parents believe games are a positive part of their children's lives.
51% of gamers play games online, up from 19% in 2000.

All sales data was gathered by the NPD, all other data was collected by Ipsos-Insight for the ESA.
Nate Dog
July 10, 2007

http://psp.ign.com/articles/803/803079p1.html


Their Thumbs May Be Too Busy to Raise, but Gamers Agree With Critics
The figures tell a compelling story. They suggest that game critics are far more powerful than film and movie critics in driving sales and that perhaps gamers are simply more careful about what they consume than filmgoers and music fans.
There are good reasons for that. Going to the movies is a $10, two-hour investment. Buying a game can be a $60, 100-hour investment.
“When something costs $59 and you’re 18 years old, it’s not like going to the movies,” said Jeff Brown, vice president for corporate communications at Electronic Arts, the No. 1 game publisher. “Video-game consumers are the single most sophisticated shoppers in the entertainment industry, despite their age and what you might think. People go to a movie or buy a book on a whim. But buying a video game is a much more methodical and judicious process. Next time you’re in an airport, look at how many magazines are dedicated to video games. And they’re not writing about the sex lives of game designers. They are writing about the content.”
By SETH SCHIESEL
Published: July 11, 2007
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/11/arts/television/11game.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

My Questions
1. Will the oft-discussed Chinese economy hold sway on the console market or will it remain in the realm of PC’s and mobile phones?
2. Will the online communities of PS3 Home and the like pave the way for a massive wave of user interactivity, including user-created content and games?
3. If the “honeymoon” is truly over for the newest consoles, will game developers hold up the end of innovative software by pushing hardware, or will new peripherals be a dominant staple?